Chapter 221: This Bowl of Noodles Is Really Delicious
Chapter 217 of "The Great Ming in the Box" begins with suspense: The wheat fields of Gaojia Village had a bountiful harvest.When the villagers weighed the harvested... Donât stop reading!
The wheat fields of Gaojia Village had a bountiful harvest.When the villagers weighed the harvested wheat, they realized this yearâs yield was astonishingly high.
In previous years, one mu of wheat yielded at most one or two dan, and that only in a year with favorable weather conditions. But this year, each mu yielded two to three dan.
Every household looked at their barns filled with wheat and were overjoyed, unable to close their mouths with joy.
âThis must be due to the âcelestial fertilizerâ provided by the Deity.â
âYes, definitely the merit of the celestial fertilizer. Anyway, it couldnât be because I weeded well.â
âAfter using the celestial fertilizer this year, not only did the crops grow well, but even the weeds in the fields grew more wildly than before. I had to weed constantly, otherwise, I couldnât keep up with the crazy growth rate of the weeds.â
âThe Deity bless us.â
âLast year, in the Dao Xuan Deity Cave, I made a wish, asking the Deity to bless us with favorable weather and abundant harvests this year. This year, we indeed had a bountiful harvest, so I must repay the vow to the Deity.â
At these words, another villager spoke up:
âYes! Over this past half a year, we have received many benefits from the Deity, but we havenât done anything for the Deity yet.â Google seaĘá´h novel¡fiÉže¡net
âPreviously, everything we ate and used was bestowed by the Deity. We shouldnât offer back what the Deity gave us to honor the Deity. But this time, we produced grain ourselves, so we can use the grain we grew to honor the Deity.â
âGood!â
All the villagers who had grown wheat came to a consensus.
âSince we are making an offering with wheat, naturally, we should make Chengcheng Countyâs specialty traditional delicacy, hand-pulled noodles.â
This proposal was immediately agreed upon by everyone.
Hand-pulled noodles are a specialty delicacy of Chengcheng County. Simply put, it means not using a rolling pin, not using a knife, not using any toolsâcompletely handmade noodle making.
By offering something that is purely hand-crafted to the Deity, they could show their sincerity to the greatest extent.
The Old Village Chief spoke up:
âThe Deity is a giant divine being; when he spreads his palms, they are ten zhang long. If the hand-pulled noodles we offer are too small, the Deity wonât be able to enjoy them. Therefore, we have to make a very huge bowl of hand-pulled noodles.â
âAt least as big as the red pool that the Deity lowered when giving us the happy fat water.â
Gao Chuwuâs father said:
âIf each family contributes a few dou of wheat and combines them, we can make a huge bowl of noodles.â
Zheng Daniuâs father said:
âBut for such a large pool-sized noodles, we donât have a pot big enough to cook it.â
âLetâs cook them separately. Each household prepares an oversized wooden bathtub and cooks only one enormous noodle per tub. Then, each family brings their one noodle, and we put them together to form a large bowl of hand-pulled noodles.â
âGood idea!â
The villagers of Gaojia Village and Zhengjia Village immediately started taking actionâŚ
At noonâŚ
Li Daoxuan sat in front of the computer, slurping Guangxi Luosifen. The smell of the sour beans was indescribable, but it tasted quite delicious.
He was happily slurping away when he suddenly noticed that the village seemed unusually bustling. All the villagers seemed to be busy with the same thingâsetting up a large bathtub in their own courtyards and heating water.
âWhy is everyone suddenly taking baths?â
Li Daoxuan sensed an unusual atmosphere. He left the computer and sat in front of the box, watching the show intently.
While the bathtubs were being heated, the villagers started kneading dough. With large bags of flour and large basins of water, they formed a huge, enormous dough ball. The villagers found it quite taxing to knead such a large dough ball.
The men of the household used all their strength to knead the dough. They kneaded while standing on stools, they jumped to knead, or they first divided it into several lumps to knead each one, and after kneading, they mixed them together and kneaded them again.
After kneading, they stretched the enormous dough by handâlengthening, thinning and stretching it⌠until it formed a noodle strip at least over ten centimeters longâŚ
Considering these little people stood barely one centimeter tall themselves, crafting noodles over ten centimeters long was astonishingly large. A single person couldnât possibly lift it. They had to hire several laborers from Short-term Workers Village who could manage heavy tasks. Together, they hoisted the giant noodle onto their shoulders as if carrying an enormous serpent.
Chanting work songs, the crowd slowly lowered the giant noodle into a massive wooden bucket of boiling water.
This wasnât only happening in one household. Every villager who harvested wheat was engaged in this labor. Their progress was deliberately synchronized, ensuring all familiesâ noodles would be cooked simultaneously.
Li Daoxuan watched, utterly bewildered, âWhat on earth are they trying to do?â
The enormous noodle churned inside the bucket. The Old Village Chief of Gaojia Village was in charge of timing. After some time, the old manâs white eyebrows lifted as he gave a loud command, âTimeâs up! Assemble quickly!â
A large group of pre-hired short-term workers then lifted the big wooden buckets and swiftly converged on the village center.
At the heart of the village stood a large red plastic pool. Thatâs rightâit was a mineral water bottle lid.
One by one, the villagers poured their own cooked noodle into the mineral water bottle lid. One strip, another strip, then anotherâŚ
Soon, dozens of noodle strips filled the lid. The Village Chief picked up a huge basin of pre-prepared seasoningâcontaining salt, sugar, and some strangely unidentifiable plantsâand poured it into the lid. Then Gao Chuwu stepped forward, stirring the mixture inside the mineral water bottle lid with an enormous wooden stick.
Only at this moment did Li Daoxuan understand: they were making a whole pool of noodles for him.
Could it be?
He couldnât possibly be right?
He was correct!
After Gao Chuwu finished stirring, all the villagers from Gaojia Village and Zhengjia Village faced the sky simultaneously and declared loudly, âWe thank the Deity for blessing us with a bountiful harvest. We offer this Chengcheng hand-pulled noodles to the Deity.â
âThe Deity is benevolent!â
âLong life and great blessings!â
The villagers roared in unison before bowing deeply together.
Something tender welled up in Li Daoxuanâs heart. Why could these tiny beings move him so profoundly, hitting his tear ducts and stirring such deep emotion?
He reached out his hand towards the small mineral water bottle lid.
Gao Yiye, seeing this, shouted, âThe Deity reaches for the hand-pulled noodles! The Deity is taking it!â
The villagers were overcome with joy, cheering ecstatically, âThe Deity is accepting the offering!â
They danced wildly, roared with exhilaration, watching as the large red pool ascended into the sky, disappearing into the low clouds.
Li Daoxuan took the mineral water bottle lid out of the box and gazed at it intently.
Despite the villagersâ immense effort, the resulting noodles amounted to only half a lidâs worth.
So adorable!
He felt reluctant to eat it⌠but eat it he must.
Tilting his head back, he poured the noodles from the lid into his mouth. The noodles, thick like pythons to the miniature villagers, were exceedingly fine strands to Li Daoxuan. He couldnât bear to swallow them hastily, so he chewed slowly, savoring every bit. Though lacking the rich modern array of seasonings, this bowl of noodles tasted truly delicious.